The only vessels I have suitable for tea brewing are a gaiwan and whatever tall glass cup that's clean.
I find yixing kind of a pain to use, because you have to pour hot water on the outside than on the inside to get it all warmed up so it doesn't crack. Too much prep time. I'm lazy.

Yesterday I said that my favorite teaware is usually my newest. Today I've decided it's whatever I've used most recently to produce good tea. I've been drinking my way through my 2010 gyo learning to steep it properly with my O-Cha shiboridashi set. I began with the least expensive gyo, moved on to O-Cha Yame gyo, and soon I'll be ready to open the upscale gyos that are waiting their turns.

The yuzamashi and cups are made to "fit" the Shiboridashi so I don't have to guess at water quantity. I set my new kettle at 150* and figure that a few pours back and forth between the shib and the yuzamashi will reduce the temp to about 140*. I still weigh the tea, but the rest of the process is more relaxing than if I need to measure everything. Just right for a cool Sunday morning.

My favorite teapot is my only Yixing one: 130 mL, modern zhuni, Shui Ping design. I bought it before I knew much about Yixing teapots, because I wanted a red teapot for red tea (oolong is often called red tea here, in contrast to green and black). It works well with TGY, but unfortunetely it's no good for Phoenix Dancong, so I dedicated it to greener oolongs.

Yixing teapot.jpg (19.11 KiB) Viewed 1148 times

My second favorite pot is the green Tokoname kyushu I bought in Tokyo for green teas. I've been using it quite a lot this summer, but it's too big for 1 person, so I've been spending too many evenings browsing the japanese teaware sites, looking for a suitable candidate...

Tokoname kyusu.jpg (26.6 KiB) Viewed 1148 times

I started the day with a cup of 2000 Lang He Qi Zi Bing shu pu that remained from yesterday, followed by a long session with different OTTI sinchas and some old sencha I had remaining. I think I'm finally ready to write that review for OTTI...

Now drinking the first sencha in several days, and my Petr Novak Kyusu has taken center stage...sweet, grassy, a little nutty, making the most of the 'Aoi' sencha from O-Cha. Mmmm.....a very nice start to the day.

Next, I'll keep working on some infusions of Song Zhong dan cong, leaves left overnight in the little Chao Zhou pot after a few lovely infusions last night.

Great TD beginnings. Miyabi shincha with the Mrs. brewed up in Kikumare (not sure of the spelling right now) kyusu. Battered and bruised (and repaired), this kyusu continues to serve and serve well! All thinks considered, it still looks pretty good too. It has brewed 100's of sessions and likely well over 1000 steeps, all sencha.

In one tiny moment in time, its life was almost ended by Koi the cat. Thanks to home repair and JB Weld, it has lived to brew 100's of more sessions.